Jimmy Garoppolo’s faults laid bare in 49ers loss to Broncos

Jimmy Garoppolo is on somewhat of a redemption season for 2022, but it came to a shuddering halt when he and the 49ers struggled against the Broncos.

The San Francisco 49ers played an ugly game against the Denver Broncos on Sunday night, eventually coming out on the wrong side of an 11-10 scoreline in a contest that is probably best left forgotten by both teams.

It’s hard to pin down exactly why the Niners struggled to move the ball outside of a promising opening quarter. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo had his issues, but it could also be pointed out that the running game struggled outside of the opening quarter as well.

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Garoppolo, in particular, needed to have a good game here, however. His entire season is essentially an audition tape for teams seeking a quarterback in 2023, and he didn’t exactly set the NFL world on fire.

Now, by no means, was Garoppolo a nightmare. He had his share of good throws and finished 18-of-29 passing for 211 yards, a touchdown and an interception that was tipped into the air (albeit, not exactly the best throw to begin with).

However, Garoppolo had his blushes, too, with a safety reminiscent of then-Detroit Lions quarterback Dan Orlovsky being the difference when he stepped out of the back of the end zone.

The only thing that spared his blushes even further was he actually threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown, and it was fortunate the safety preceded that.

The 7-5 scoreline at the time meant the Broncos went for two points following their touchdown and failed. Had Garoppolo not been so careless with the safety (or throw), they would have had a 10-7 lead which the 49ers would have tied at 10-10 and the game could have gone to overtime.

Week 3 defines Jimmy Garoppolo weaknesses

The game laid Garoppolo’s deficiencies bare. He’s an adequate quarterback, but couldn’t find a way past a stout Denver defense. He also has some moments that just raise eyebrows, and they proved decisive here.

Garoppolo is the definition of the somewhat pejorative term of a system quarterback. When the system works, he performs well. When the system doesn’t work, Garoppolo struggles.

The loss is on all of the offensive deficiencies and not just him, but the somewhat optimistic appraisal of him after he came into the game against Seattle last week has come back down to earth.

Not all is lost, however. The 49ers play the Rams next week on Monday Night Football and a victory guarantees them a share of the NFC West lead. If Garoppolo leads the team to victory over Los Angeles, something he’s done plenty of times in his career, we’ll all be singing his praises.

I want to sing his praises, you want to sing his praises. We all want to beat the Rams, and we want Garoppolo to look like a star doing it because for one more season he’s still the quarterback.

But this week was a stark reminder that Garoppolo is still an incomplete player, and 49ers fans will still have to endure frustrating games like the one against Denver.